1. Scope of the Invention
The closure system testing apparatus described herein provides full vehicle testing of all body hardware closures. As explained in more detail below, the full vehicle test system according to the present invention simultaneously operates all handles and body closures in a manner that simulates human use of those handles and closures. In that regard, the system according to the present invention assures that no extraneous loads or added mass are imparted or added to the closures and handles.
The closure system testing apparatus can be configured to open and close the doors of any of a variety of vehicles thereby eliminating the need to customize a system for any particular vehicle. The apparatus incorporates modular and adjustable fixturing of various handle and closure actuators and cyclers attachable to various main and base frames. The ability to configure the apparatus, in turn, affords the system the ability to accommodate a wide range of vehicle sizes from compact vehicles to full size vans including pick-up trucks, avoiding the need to customize the apparatus to work with a particular vehicle.
2. Prior Art
It has been known to provide a vehicle closure testing apparatus for opening and closing particular vehicle doors having a particular axis of rotation of a particular vehicle under test having a supporting structure providing support for the vehicle closure testing apparatus. These known supporting structures have been configured to be positioned either on the outside of the vehicle under test or within the interior of the vehicle under test. The known outside supporting structures have also been configured to allow a particular, fully-operational vehicle under test to be driven onto the outside supporting structure and to support the particular, fully-operational vehicle under test including the vehicle's wheels and suspension. The outside and inside supporting structures are positioned relative to the particular vehicle under test such that the supporting structure is in a spaced relationship to either the exterior surface or the interior surface of the particular vehicle door, respectively.
Such known closure systems testing apparatuses also include a door moving mechanism disposed on the supporting structure that engages the vehicle door and rotates the vehicle door in an opening direction or a closing direction when the door moving mechanism is activated. It has been known to use an outside door moving mechanism to both open and close the particular vehicle door, an inside door moving mechanism to both open and close the particular vehicle door, and both inside and outside door moving mechanisms to open and close the particular vehicle door.
These known door moving mechanisms are movably disposed on the supporting structure at a position that enables the door moving mechanisms to engage an area of contact on the particular vehicle door and are designed to move in a first direction and a second direction counter to the first direction. The door moving mechanisms engage the area of contact on the particular vehicle door and move the door in either (or both) the opening direction and the closing direction such that the area of contact remains fixed while the door moving mechanism open and close the door.
The known vehicle closure testing apparatuses also include electric actuators operatively associated with the door moving mechanisms and cause the door moving mechanisms to engage and move the particular vehicle door in either (or both) the opening direction or the closing direction. The electric actuators are controlled by an electric actuator controller communicating with the electric actuators so as to transfer control signals to the electric actuators and to receive feedback signals indicative of door movements. The electric actuator controller can control the electric actuators to obtain a desired velocity profile in the movement of the particular vehicle door.